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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bank · shower · kick · arm · spell · clip · race · kid

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kick — in football
  4. clip — a video
  5. bank — of a river
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — magic
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bank — for money
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. shower — to wash
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. shower — rain
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bank — for money
  21. spell — letters
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. clip — to cut
  24. race — humankind

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com